Speech by SMS Lee Yi Shyan at the Singapore Jewellers Association 75th Anniversary Dinner at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel

Mr Ho Nai Chuen, President of the Singapore Jewellers Association,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

Introduction

1.               I am happy to be here tonight at the 75th anniversary dinner of the Singapore Jewellers Association (or SJA). My heartiest congratulations on your success as the jewellery industry champion over the years.

Global and Regional Trends

2.               Globally, the jewellery industry is growing. Global demand for gold jewellery rose 17% in 2013

[1]

, reaching the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. This growth has been driven by increased demand in China and India, which rose by 29% and 11% respectively

[2]

. With rising affluence in the region, the Asian jewellery market is likely to grow further in the next few years. Singapore jewellers are well placed to take advantage of this rising demand.

Singapore Jewellers Association (SJA)

3.               The SJA has an important role to play in helping our jewellers ride on this wave of growth, just as it has been a key to the development of the industry since its founding in 1939. For instance, since 2009, it has helped nurture jewellery designing talent through the Singapore Jewellery Design Award competition. This competition provides a platform for budding jewellery designers to be profiled, with finalists being given the opportunity to showcase their designs, and winners having their pieces manufactured for sale. Last year, this competition attracted 1,656 design entries from 39 countries. Since the inception of the competition, several Singapore jewellery designers have made it to the finals of the competition. One of these designers, Doreen Tan won the Sponsor’s choice award in 2011. Her creations are currently sold by Agatha Paris, a French jewellery boutique, at the Mandarin Gallery.

4.               The SJA has also done much to promote Singapore as a regional trading hub for jewellery. It partnered with UBM Asia Trade Fairs to co-organise the inaugural Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair in October 2013. This event showcased over 283 jewellery companies from over 28 countries, providing opportunities for our jewellers to reach out to overseas trade buyers. In addition, with support from SPRING, SJA developed an online business matching service in 2012 to serve as a unified platform for SJA members to reach out to trade partners, positioning them for higher market visibility.

Upgrading the industry’s capabilities for a brighter future

5.               Many businesses in Singapore face rising business costs due to constraints on manpower, as well as land and space. The jewellery industry is no different, and needs to find creative ways to overcome these constraints and drive growth. I would like to offer five suggestions for the industry to consider.

6.               Firstly, our jewellers should continue building their design capabilities as this is the key to creating unique products that customers will desire. To help businesses build in-house design capabilities, DesignSingapore Council and SPRING offer a suite of capability programmes. Since 2011, DesignSingapore Council has supported 37 Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC)

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projects initiated by jewellery businesses. These projects engaged design consultants in the creation of new products and service innovations.

7.               Secondly, the retail scene is shifting, with more activity taking place through online and mobile platforms. Our jewellers need to adopt an omni-channel retailing approach to reach out to more customers in a manner that complements their brick-and-mortar stores. This means developing e-Commerce capabilities, using digital marketing through social media platforms and adoption of in-store technology such as mobile Point-of-Sales systems. One example is Lee Hwa Jewellery, which has been an early adopter of omni-channel retailing, using digital and social media platforms to better engage its customers. Lee Hwa’s Facebook page showcases new pieces, and provides a channel for customers to comment on them. To date, Lee Hwa Jewellery has garnered over 60,000 likes on their Facebook page. 

8.               Thirdly, it is imperative that our jewellers take measures to raise productivity. This is the only sustainable way to mitigate rising business costs in the long run. There are many opportunities to leverage technology to do so. Local jeweller Poh Heng, for example, is in the process of implementing RFID technology at its retail outlets to help reduce the man-hours required for stocktaking by 75% and the tracking of missing or misplaced items by 80%. Retail staff can now better focus on serving customers and closing sales, which is a more valuable use of their time.

9.               Fourthly, our jewellers can tap on the relevant government programmes to explore internationalisation opportunities. In 2013, IE Singapore supported 75 applications from our jewellery firms under the International Marketing Activities Programme or iMAP, which partially defrays the cost of participating in key Asian trade shows. I encourage our industry players to take advantage of these opportunities to build trade linkages within ASEAN. With the integration of ASEAN under the ASEAN Economic Community vision by 2015, ASEAN will form a single economic region with a population of more than 600 million, the world’s third largest population after China and India.

10.           Lastly, in the jewellery sector, customers must have the utmost confidence in the products that they are buying. Hence, the industry must continue to build up consumer confidence in Singapore jewellery at home and overseas. Members of the SJA are obliged to adhere to a Code of Ethics and Best Practice. I am glad to note that this is currently being fine-tuned to incorporate the Lemon Law and the latest Singapore Standards on Fineness & Marking of Articles of precious metal.

Conclusion

11.           In conclusion, I would like to wish the SJA every success in establishing Singapore as a vibrant jewellery hub in the region. With your continued leadership, I am confident that our industry will continue to flourish and reach new heights.

12.           With this, I wish everyone an enjoyable evening. Thank you.

[1]

Gold Demand Trends - Full Year 2013, World Gold Council, 18 Feb 2014.

[2]

Global consumer demand for gold increases at unprecedented levels in 2013, World Gold Council, 18 Feb 2014.

[3]

Design projects approved by DesignSingapore Council are eligible for PIC grants. Since the launch of the PIC scheme from Mar 2011 till Mar 2014, a total of 37 projects were supported.